What a Hoopla!: Juvenile Audiobooks through your Library
With the decline in physical media and the rise of the digital format, so goes how we consume our books. Thankfully, the library provides digital resources for both our entertainment and educational literary needs. Overdrive, funded by the Huntsville Library Foundation, serves as an online library where you can check out digital copies of library books for a set amount of time. Currently, patrons check out up to 10 eBooks or audiobooks at a time and place up to 10 holds on items not currently available. A newer addition to our library, Hoopla Digital allows library users to check out not just ebooks, but audiobooks, movies, tv episodes, and music without having to wait on an available copy! Users can check out up to 5 titles total per month. What's so great about using these digital sites is that you can download the titles to your computer, phone, or Ipad using the apps. To access these resources, visit our website here: HMCPL Books and click on the link for Hoopla or Overdrive. Make sure you have your library card number and pin to access either. Visit any of the library's branches to receive your pin password if you don't have one set up already. For help on just how to get started with downloading the apps, we have a guide called "Digital Downloads" to help show the step by step process for our digital book resources. Click on the title to access and start downloading today.
As May is Audiobook Appreciation month, I thought I'd provide you some options to look for on both our digital libraries and our physical copies. Hoopla has a variety of audiobooks suited for kids. From books on social skills to books on countries, animals, and science, you are bound to find something you like. Included titles include Minecraft by Sara Green, Astrophysics for Young People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson, and The Boy who Failed Show and Tell by Jordan Sonnenblick.
By downloading the Libby or Overdrive app onto your chosen device, you will have access to a variety of library digital titles. Digital Media Zone, available through Overdrive, lets you search by title, genre, or author to find what you're looking for. While the nonfiction collection for kids is not as large as Hoopla's, Overdrive does have Spanish titles available and always available titles for students.
If you're still using CDs, we've got you covered there too. Particularly well-done kids' audiobooks at the library included Hana's Suitcase, Bomb: The Race to build-and steal-the world's most dangerous weapon, Titanic: Voices from the Disaster, Charles & Emma, Dewey the Library Cat, Brown Girl Dreaming, and The Notorious Benedict Arnold.